I have been toying with the idea of buying a microscope to be able to check stool samples for parasites myself at times. And purchased a few books to be able to improve my limited medical ability when it comes to my dogs. I am always trying to put more info under my belt to maintain and care for my children especially in trauma situations. Any suggestions on the matter would be appreciated. Not much to report otherwise as Turkey Season has put a damper on my hunting lately. Gonna get out a few nights this week though.
Having kept mega-packs for decades now, and always being "financially challenged", I learned to do A LOT of my own stuff--on myself as well as my canines! Having worked for veterinarians in the past(and the main one I worked for was THE BEST, MOST HONEST Vet I have ever met--I'm NOT impressed with the lack of ethics I have encountered lately where I am now living....), I KNOW when they are bullcrapping me, and sadly, the ones I've tried out lately apparently aced their "Mendacity" courses in veterinary school! But I digress. As for worming--I haven't advanced to the microscope level, but so far haven't felt the need to. I Ivermectin all my dogs all Summer each month, and if we have any appreciable mild weather in the Winter--which we sure didn't where I live this year! Ivermectin takes care of not only heartworm preventative, but most everything else--especially that most debilitating hookworm. Tapeworms and whipworms require something else--Fenbendazole gets them good(I treat 3 days in a row for tapes and whips). I buy the livestock Ivermectin at the Farm-Feed(Southern States or Tractor Supply here) store--it has a styalized bull decorating the cover--kept in a locked cabinet, so you have to ask for it. One small vial is $30 or $40 bucks, but it takes care of my over 10 pack for a year! WAY CHEAPER than the damn rip-off vet bills! Give 1CC per 40lbs. for heartworm preventative--you can DOUBLE that for other bad worm infestations--very hard to overdose on Ivermectin! I know some collie-type breeds are sensitive to it, but I've never had any problems with my many varieties of canine. I just use a hyperdermic needle and put it in their food--I have no picky eaters at the moment! If I did, I'd put it in some kind of treat--supposedly it has a bitter taste. For tapes and whips I get "Safeguard"--usually the horse paste in a tube. About $7 or $8 bucks. Sometimes I'll get a larger tube for cattle--all the same stuff--you want the main drug "Fenbendazole"--a VERY SAFE drug--hard to overdose on this stuff, too. The tube has an automatic weight dial showing you how much poundage you are squeezing out--I tend to be quite generous with it--and also just put a dollop in the dogs' food--but 3 days in a row. Basically this drug is not a poison to the parasites, just removes the protective coating they have that keeps them from being digested, so after administering, your dog's gut just digests the boogers! Cool, huh? If you don't already know all this, and have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. And, by the way, the doses I gave were the ones recommended by a Vet to a dog trainer friend, and I have used them for DECADES with nary a problem.......L.B.
ReplyDelete....Oooooops-OF COURSE I would make a mistake/typo on that Ivermectin dosage! It's 1/10th of a CC per 40 lbs.! Kinda a big difference! And yes, it is a miniscule amount, but it does the job. Some vets in severe mosquito areas recommend double that dose for Heartworm preventative--they did along the Gulf Coast of Texas where I once lived briefly. And double the dose for deworming(as opposed to H W prevention). And some vets/folks will whine and say you CAN'T use livestock(cattle/hog) Ivermectin on dogs--Baloney! It's all the same stuff--we use it on all manner of critters at the zoo where I now work. And you can bet we don't use super expensive "for dogs only" brands!....L.B.
ReplyDeleteThanks L.B. I use the meds, same as you all the way around for tapes, heart, round worms etc. I recently had a dog that just wasn't looking right as far as her weight so I wormed her well and still nothing changed. She had no signs of worms or any symptoms of parasites including coccidia and giardia. Looked healthy but just was a little lean for the way I was feeding I thought. Turned out she had coccidia and had probably had it for a while but no symptoms so instead of taking all 16 in for exam I went ahead and treated them all but...... I am buying a microscope, gonna get familiar with the process of fecal exam etc. and go as far as I can with utilizing it for what ever else I can teach myself. I have a lot of money in these critters but my motivation is going to bed at night knowing I am taking the best care I can with them. Also I just enjoy learning more about their health and have always been very hands on in anything I was involved with.
ReplyDeleteNever a bad idea to learn to do stuff yerself, that's for sure! I shoulda known you'd know all about worming-without-vets! But perhaps other readers(???) will benefit. Coccidia? I haven't had any trouble yet that I know of with that regarding my dogs--what do you treat them with for that, if I may ask? I have the amoebic parasite "blastocistus hominus(sp.?)" myself, I was told I probably picked it up from drinking out of streams in Africa years ago--a rather benign parasite usually. I looked into treating it--but dang! The treatment is worse than the parasite! I know some people who HAVE treated it(very expensive!), and ended up just picking it up again later--apparently it is very common, and most folks that have it just don't realize it! I decided to just "be one" with my blasto--perhaps it gives me some symbiotic benefit--who knows?....L.B.
ReplyDeleteI use Albon or Sulfadimethoxine. good stuff for a lot of ailments.
ReplyDeleteAudiwn
Thanks! I'll squirrel that away somewhere....L.B.
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